Empowering Women Artisans with Fair Trade

Feeding families. Nursing the sick. Producing half the world’s food supply and performing nearly two-thirds of the world’s work hours, according to the UN.

All these responsibilities and many more fall on the shoulders of women of the world, who represent over half of our global population. Yet they receive only one-tenth of the world’s income, own only one percent of its property, and are subject to disproportionate amounts of violence, discrimination, and impoverishment relative to their male fellows.

Clearly, this needs to change. Women’s empowerment not only corrects a great injustice in the world, but sets the stage for greater reduction of poverty overall, as resources in women’s hands mean greater household expenditures on health and education (according to the World Bank).

But how do we alleviate a problem that seems to be so systemic, so pervasive, and so entrenched in so many parts of the world?

Creating economic opportunities

The key to help the world’s most marginalized women build sustainable futures for themselves and their families is economic empowerment. And the way to achieve economic empowerment is with equitable commerce models. Enter the fair trade movement . . .

The big picture of the fair trade movement is fairness for producers and suppliers — an easy enough idea to get behind, if a rather abstract one. But how does this concept of fairness translate into the day-to-day operations of fair-trade workers and organizations?

Fair Trade means fair for everybody

As it turns out, a commitment to non-discrimination, gender equity and women’s economic empowerment is an explicit and integral part of any fair-trade system, under Principle Six of World Fair Trade Organization’s 10 Principles of Fair Trade. Fair-trade organizations and suppliers are not only required to make sure that women’s working conditions and compensation are fair and equal to those of men, but also that health and safety needs particular to women, such as time off for pregnant and breast-feeding mothers, are part of the equation.

In short, fair-trade suppliers like NOVICA must go out of their way to make sure that women are getting the support they need to lift themselves out of poverty. For us, at a minimum, that means requiring that all artisans sign our Fair Labor Policy agreement, which stipulates they treat their own employees without discrimination on the basis of gender, race, age, religion, disability or sexual orientation.

Empowering women to lead

But full employment rights and equal pay for equal work are just the tip of the iceberg. Fair-trade producers and suppliers also enable women to participate in leadership positions and have a say in shaping policy — a crucial piece of the puzzle, as women in leadership positions are more likely to continue the cycle of women empowerment and build momentum at the community level, where it’s needed most.

A new way to support women artisans

For NOVICA, empowering women through powerful and long-lasting fair-trade solutions has been our priority since day one. With a female company president, and 5 out of 8 regional offices led by women, gender equality is very much in our DNA. We go out of our way to recruit female artisans and provide a gender balance within our artist community. But we’d like to take it one step further.

Nowadays, as the need to address gender inequality gains more and more traction around the world, socially-conscious consumers are looking for ways to target their support toward women producers. So we decided to make it easy.

With our new Women’s Empowerment collection, the world’s largest online selection of fair trade artisan products produced by women is now in one place. You can shop all your favorite fashion, jewelry, and home decor treasures knowing that each purchase benefits a woman and her family. And more ways to focus your support according to what matters most to you are just around the corner.

The women artisans of the world have so many unique perspectives and so much talent to offer. Let’s say “no” to trading practices that marginalize their contributions and help build a better future for all!